View source for Amator

{{Short description|Catholic bishop and saint}}
{{for|the film|Camera Buff}}
{{Redirect|Saint Martha (French)|the legends of St Martha of Bethany in France|Martha#Legends}}
{{Infobox saint
| honorific_prefix= [[Saint]]
| name            = Amator of Auxerre
| image           = File:Chapelle de Locadour - 3654.JPG
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| alt             = 
| caption         = St. Amador, Chapelle de Locadour, Kervignac
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| birth_date      = 
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| death_date      = 1 May 418
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| beatified_by    = 
| canonized_date  = [[Pre-congregation|Pre-Congregation]]
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| major_shrine    = 
| feast_day       = 1 May
| attributes      = bishop with axe and tree
| patronage       = 
| issues          = 
| suppressed_date = 
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}}
'''Amator''' {{in lang|fr}} '''Amadour''' or '''Amatre''' was [[bishop of Auxerre]] from 388 until his death on 1 May 418 and venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. Amator's feast day is celebrated on 1 May.<ref>{{in lang|el}} ''[http://www.synaxarion.gr/gr/sid/2837/sxsaintinfo.aspx Ὁ Ἅγιος Ἀγαπητὸς Ἐπίσκοπος Ὡξέρρης].'' 1 Μαΐου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.</ref>

==Amator of Auxerre==
Amator was of a wealthy, upper-class family in Auxerre, France. He studied [[theology]] under Valerian, Bishop of Auxerre, but married a holy woman of [[Langres]], venerated locally as '''Saint Martha''', in order to please his parents. When he and his bride went to church to receive the nuptial benediction, Bishop Valerian, by mistake, or, as some think, by a special interposition of Providence, pronounced over them the office of consecration to the service of God, instead of the marriage prayer.<ref>[https://www.biblicalcyclopedia.com/A/amator-st.html ''The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature'', (James Strong and John McClintock, ed.) Harper and Brothers; NY; 1880]{{PD-notice}}</ref> After their [[wedding]], they mutually agreed to live together as brother and sister. Martha subsequently became a [[nun]] and Amator received the clerical tonsure.<ref name=Strong>[https://catholicsaints.info/butlers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-amator-bishop-of-auxerre-confessor/ Butler, Alban. “Saint Amator, Bishop of Auxerre, Confessor”. ''Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints'', 1866. CatholicSaints.Info. 4 May 2013]</ref>

He later succeeded [[Helladius of Auxerre|Eladius]] as Bishop of Auxerre in 388 and governed the see until his death 30 years later. During this 30-year [[episcopacy]], he built two [[church (building)|churches]] and converted the remaining [[Paganism|pagans]] in his [[diocese]].  He introduced the [[relics]] of [[Saint Quiricus and Saint Julietta|Saint Cyricus]] into [[France]], thus propagating this saint's cult.

[[Germanus of Auxerre|Germanus]] was one of the six dukes, entrusted by the emperor with the government of the Gallic provinces. He resided at Auxerre. At length he incurred the displeasure of Bishop Amator by hanging hunting trophies on a certain tree, which in earlier times had been the scene of pagan worship. Amator remonstrated with him in vain. One day when the duke was absent, the bishop had the tree cut down and the trophies burnt. Fearing the anger of the duke, who wished to kill him, he fled and appealed to the prefect Julius for permission to confer the tonsure on Germain. This being granted, Amator, who felt that his own life was drawing to a close, returned. When the duke came to the church, Amator caused the doors to be barred and gave him the tonsure against his will, telling him to live as one destined to be his successor, and forthwith made him a deacon. When in a short time Amator died, Germain was unanimously chosen to succeed him as bishop.<ref name=macerlean>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06472b.htm  MacErlean, Andrew. "St. Germain." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 26 Jan. 2013]</ref> Germanus subsequently wrote a [[biography]] of Amator. In the [[Middle Ages]], a certain Stephen also composed a life of Amator, but it is considered a work of [[fiction]]. 

[[J. B. Bury]] suggests that Amator ordained [[Saint Patrick]] to the diaconate at Auxerre; and that he was later ordained priest by Amator's successor [[Germanus of Auxerre]] in a church in Auxerre dedicated to Amator.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=EBspAAAAYAAJ&dq=amator+of+auxerre&pg=PA497 Bury, J.B., "Sources of the Early Patrician Documents", ''The English Historical Review'', (Mandell Creighton et al, eds.), Longman., July 1904, p. 499]</ref> However, this may actually refer to [[Palladius (bishop of Ireland)|Palladius]],<ref>[https://thehistorypress.co.uk/article/the-solution-to-the-two-st-patricks-theory/ Hosie, Bronwen. "The solution to the ‘Two St Patricks’ theory", The History Press, March 16, 2018]</ref> whom historian [[Kathleen Hughes (historian)|Kathleen Hughes]] regards as more probable a deacon of Germanus, and that Germanus sent him to Rome,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=2rwRDAAAQBAJ&dq=Palladius+%28bishop+of+Ireland%29&pg=PA302 Hughes, Kathleen. "The church in Irish society, 400-800", ''A New History of Ireland: Prehistoric and early Ireland''], (Daibhi O Croinin, ed.) Oxford University Press, 1976,  {{ISBN|9780198217374}}, p. 302</ref>

Amator died in 418 and was buried in the church which he had built in honour of the Martyr Saint Symphorian, and which later bore his own name.<ref name=monks>[http://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-amator/ Monks of Ramsgate. “Amator”. ''Book of Saints'', 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 30 May 2012]</ref> He is said to have been distinguished by the gift of miracles, both before and after his death.<ref name=Strong/>

===Iconography===
He is depicted as a bishop with an [[axe]] and [[tree]].

Amator is sometimes confused with a [[hermit]] of legend whose feast day is 20 August.  A tradition in [[Autun]] also designates him as its first bishop, with an occupancy date of 250, tying him to the seven bishops sent to evangelise Gaul in the time of [[Decius]].

==Amator and Rocamadour==
{{Main|Rocamadour|Saint Amadour}}
[[Image:Rocam sanctdetail2 082005.JPG|thumb|right|The sanctuary of Rocamadour]]
The commune of [[Rocamadour]] is said to have been named after Amator, who is believed to have been the founder of the ancient sanctuary. The ''crypt Saint-Amadour'' is situated here.  The church of Notre Dame (1479) contains a wooden [[Black Madonna]] reputed to have been carved by Amator.

Amadour was identified with the [[Bible|Biblical]] [[Zacchaeus|Zacheus]], the tax collector of [[Jericho]] mentioned in Luke 19:1-10. He is thought to have married [[Saint Veronica|Veronica]], who wiped [[Jesus Christ|Jesus']] face on the way to [[Calvary]]. Driven out of [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] by persecution, Amadour and Veronica embarked in a frail [[skiff]] and, guided by an [[angel]], landed on the coast of [[Aquitaine]].  After journeying to [[Rome]], where he witnessed the [[martyr]]doms of [[Saint Peter|Peter]] and [[Paul of Tarsus|Paul]], Amadour, having returned to France, on the death of his spouse, withdrew to a wild spot in [[Quercy]] where he built a chapel in honour of the [[Blessed Virgin]], near which he died a little later.<ref name=clugnet>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13100a.htm Clugnet, Léon. "Rocamadour." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 27 Apr. 2013]</ref>

Amator's ''Acts'' cannot be dated as being older than the 12th century. It is now well established that Martial, Amadour's contemporary in the legend, lived in the 3rd not the 1st century, and Rome has never included him among the members of the [[Apostolic College]]. The untrustworthiness of the legend has led some recent authors to suggest that Amadour was an unknown [[hermit]] or the actual bishop of Auxerre of the same name.

==The Portuguese Amator==
Confusion is added by the fact that there is also a Amator ({{langx|pt|[[Amador of Portugal]]}}) whose feast day is celebrated on 27 March. He was a hermit of [[Portugal]], and several churches in the [[diocese]] of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Guarda, Portugal|Guarda]] and elsewhere in Portugal are dedicated to him. A "San Amador" is the [[patron saint]] of the [[Spain|Spanish]] town of [[Martos]].    

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Saints}}
* [http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0501.shtml#amad Saint of the Day, May 1: Amator] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101221094700/http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0501.shtml#amad |date=2010-12-21 }}
* {{in lang|fr}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20061206194216/http://www.cahors.fr/patrimoine/inventaire/memoire/DPT46-1989/ple/IVR73_89460908XA_P.jpg Cathédrale Saint-Étienne] (Image of St. Amadour)
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTEe32k_RlE Procesión de San Amador, patrón de Martos (Jaén), el 5 de Mayo de 2006] 

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Amator}}
[[Category:4th-century births]]
[[Category:418 deaths]]
[[Category:4th-century bishops in Gaul]]
[[Category:5th-century bishops in Gaul]]
[[Category:5th-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:Bishops of Auxerre]]
[[Category:Gallo-Roman saints]]